


mortal bodies, timeless souls

by darling-magnus (sonofagoat)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Background Malec, M/M, Mutual Pining, eventual maia/izzy but also background, he's also a nervous wreck. projecting much? maybe, i love them so much this bitch is gonna cry, jace comes out and im proud of him :'), jace has a tough exterior but hes so soft and gentle inside, jock jace, maybe ill write a fic for them too, they swear a lot so if you dont like that.. sorry, video game violence in chapter 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-09-27 13:50:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10023599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonofagoat/pseuds/darling-magnus
Summary: "Truth or dare?" Izzy is sprawled across the length of their couch, leg perched on the top of the headrest with a mountain of blankets smothering her voice.Jace stares at the vague figure of his sister, calculating which choice would result in the least amount of damage."Truth.""My question is..." She pauses, waits until she has Alec's attention from whomever he is texting, then asks, "Who is the person you have been pining over?"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys :) i got the inspiration for this during jimon week but i procrastinate way too much :P also my motivation is a fickle bitch so i'll try to post frequently but i cant make any promises. check me out on tumblr at darling-magnus and if you have anything you'd like to see in the next chapters comment below <3

"Truth or dare?" Izzy is sprawled across the length of their couch, leg perched on the top of the headrest with a mountain of blankets smothering her voice.

Jace stares at the vague figure of his sister, calculating which choice would result in the least amount of damage. He picks truth and she sits up abruptly, a devious smile on her face.

"Oh, Jace, Jace, Jace. When will you ever learn?" She cackles as Jace rolls his eyes at her, motioning for her to end his torture already. "Hold on, I need to think. A truth is like a fine wine, a shooting star, a hot bath! You need to savor it." Izzy stares into Jace's eyes, a smile twitching her lips every few seconds.

Jace lets out a low moan, "By the time you pick your question I'll have developed dementia and be living in a damn retirement home. _Hurry up_."

"My question is..." She pauses, waits until she has Alec's attention from _whomever_ he is texting, then asks, "Who is the person you have been pining over?"

As the question registers in Jace's brain, he gasps and chokes on his own tongue at the same time, watching his sibling's reactions in slow motion. It takes a few seconds for Alec to process the question too but as he turns to Jace, his eyebrows raise and his lips shaped in an 'o,' his eyes filled with amusement. Izzy's painted lips broadened from a smirk into a dazzling, knowing smile. Jace wasn't expecting that and she knew it.

"Wha- no I don't- I don't pine over anyone- why do you think- no there's no one I-" Izzy slid out from her mountain of blankets, kneeling in front of Jace and clutching his shoulders. One of her hands rose to stroke strands of hair out of his face, the familiar touch soothing the heartbeat lodged in Jace's throat.

"Yes, Jace you do. You try to hide it, and you do fairly well, but at school you will stare into the crowd with this small smile on your face. You look starstruck, wistful, you look like you're _pining_."

"W- well I- guess I can tell you, I mean- this might be a surprise but- it's a boy."

Alec's face morphed into total shock (as if he didn't know), while Izzy's smile grew bigger and warmer. "I knew it, big brother. I had a feeling and I just needed you to admit it. Now, give us details!" Her hands found his shaking ones to give a gentle squeeze, calming his nerves slightly.

"So I... didn't really know I could like a boy until I saw him, but something just, clicked inside of me. It felt like I was meant to see him at that exact moment. I don't know, it dumb and doesn't make sense."

Alec shook his head. "Jace no, I've had the same thought... about Magnus. It's not dumb, your feelings aren't dumb." A slow smile stretched across Jace's face, a silent conversation between the brothers until Izzy shook his arm.

"Okay, but who is he? Do we know him? You won't keep this a secret for much longer, I _will_ find out."

Jace laughed, still feeling anxious but mostly relieved. He finally got that secret off his chest. "Well he's in our grade," nodding to Alec, while rubbing the skin between his thumb and forefinger out of habit. "His name is Lewis, Simon Lewis. I haven't really talked to him, but he's in a few of my classes and I just- I don't know, I like him."

Izzy was beaming at this point, "Where did you first notice him? Are you planning on asking him out?"

"I saw him at one of my games last year. He was with that red haired girl, Clary? And he was wearing this abhorrent sweater covered in dinosaurs." A fond smile crept onto his face. "And by abhorrent I mean adorable as fuck. Did you really just ask that? You know I would shrivel up and die, right? No, it's not an option."

She started to protest but Jace ignored her and yelled 'truth or dare' at Alec. He zoned out for a bit after that, finally processing what happened just now. He came out to his siblings, they listened to him, he wasn't judged for who he is. He knew he didn't have to be worried about their reactions, especially Alec and Izzy, they were the least of his worries. But his anxiety was still through the roof, his nervous reactions surfacing once again and making everything 100 times harder for him. He hated the fist in his stomach, his shaking hands and voice, kneading the skin on his hands. He's given up hope at them ever going away, he's a senior in high school for Christ's sake. If he hasn't gotten rid of them by now he never will.

Just then he was brought back to reality by a poke in his arm. "Have you even been listening? There could've been an _emergency_. We could have _died_ , but you would've just kept daydreaming about your little crush. I'm so hurt! The betrayal! Oh this agony!"

Jace gently shoved Izzy's face, causing her to dramatically fall backwards, her moans of hurt and torture drawing giggles out of both Alec and Jace. "Oh do shut up Izzy, and what could you possibly want?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a truth? Or a dare? Pick your poison." Jace considered another truth, but look where the last one got him. Telling his siblings was a good thing, a wonderful thing, but he didn't want to be under Izzy's microscope any more than usual. "Alright I pick a dare."

Her eyes lit up, and he knew she was 100% prepared for this answer. "I dare you to ask Simon out on a date tomorrow." For the second time that night, the sound of Jace choking filled the room. Alec looked delightfully pleased, even wiggling excitedly in his seat a bit.

"No. No! Absolutely not. That's not on the table. It's not even in the same town, the same country! Pick a new one."

"Oh but Jace! It could go really well and you'd fall in love and live gayfully ever after! Think of me, think of the children!"

"I'd rather think of my pride and heart because he _will_ turn me down. I can promise you that."

Her hopeful smile turned into a dramatic pout, her body going limp and sliding to the ground. "You are no fun and you depress me. -10/10 wouldn't recommend as a date. Jesus Christ fine, I will think of another one." Jace stuck his socked foot in her face and she recoiled in disgust. As she thought of a new dare, Jace turned his attention to Alec. Who's phone kept buzzing with new texts every 30 seconds or so.

"Got somewhere else you'd like to be, Mr. Popular?" Alec looked up with a blush on his face and suppressed smile. "No, it's just Magnus. Y'know, being annoyingly cute and shit. There's no where else I would rather be than here." Small smiles were shared between the two before Izzy crowed in triumph over finding a new dare.

"I've got the second perfect dare, since Jace "I'm a big prideful baby who don't need a man" Lightwood is too good for the first. And you have to do this one! You used your one and only forfeit, so don't even try it." She glared at him, pointing an accusing finger at his face.

Jace held his hands up in peace, resisting under her new and improvised rules. Hell hath no fury like an Isabelle Lightwood scorned.

"I dare you to follow Simon on all his social media accounts. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, hell if you find a tumblr go for it. And I want you to do it as soon as fucking possible."

Jace blinked, and blinked again, but her confident posture and serious face did not waver.

"Dear god, that's only slightly better, Izzy! That's like, a .02 difference. You can't be serious. What if he asks me why I'm suddenly stalking him? It'll be weird, please don't make me do this."

"No take backs, and you can't unfollow him after a few days. _That_ would make things awkward. Get out your phone, either you do it or I'll do it for you. I'd also spam him with tweets sooo..."

Alec was watching this tug of war with smug amusement. "Et tu, Alec? Now I'm feeling the betrayal."

"Oh you don't remember when you set me up with Magnus? I told you there'd be payback."

"But it totally worked out for you guys! One day you will thank me for that night."

"It may have worked out but I'm not above being petty. Dude, I seriously doubt that." Jace chuckled at the memory; once he had figured out that they both liked the other, he sent Magnus flowers in Alec's name asking him on a date for the following night. Alec was two seconds from killing Jace when Magnus called to say yes; Alec still hated Jace for about a week but it was all worth it. His brother is the happiest he's ever been and they all got an amazing new friend in Magnus. Win-win, if Jace was being honest.

Jace sighed, pulling out his phone. Might as well get this over with. The snakes writing in his stomach definitely didn't help the situation. He started with Twitter, it would most likely be the easiest to find. After clicking through the top three accounts, Jace finally landed on Simon's. @rocksolidpanda1? What kind of handle is that? Rolling his eyes at his damn dork, his eyes scanned down to his bio.

'Lead guitarist and singer for Rock Solid Panda 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! finally got chapter 2 done and like i said theres video game violence in this one. the only video game ive seen played is resident evil 7 bc i watch my friend play it lol but i hope you enjoy!

The character on the screen moved slowly down the hall, scanning the next room before entering- 

The sound of a Twitter notification drew his attention away for a second, when Mia appeared with a chainsaw, steadily making her way towards him. Clary will just have to fuckin wait, this is a matter of life or death and he can't be distracted right now. 

He had the ax he found when he searched through a room but he needed a weapon with a bigger range; he just needed to find the gun to kill the possessed fucker. After narrowly escaping from her three times, he finally found the gun in a hidden, decrepit room. He walked through the next doorway, seeing a ladder reaching up to a big window. He knew what was going to happen at this point, so he climbed two rungs before quickly climbing back down and making plenty of space between him and the window. The ugly bastard broke through the glass and fell to the floor, the chainsaw still in her hands. 

Simon's first couple shots missed, his gut a ball of tension and his hands shaking. But he pulled himself together and shot her in the head, one, two, three times before she went down. He walked closer to where she lay, shooting her one more time before exiting the room. Out from the shadows a man appeared, grabbing Ethan by the arm and punching him in the face. "Welcome to the family, son." He collapsed next to his dead wife, turning to look at the man before the boot met his face. The screen went black. 

Simon paused and saved the game, stretching his stiff muscles before reaching for his phone to message Clary back, but his face twisted in confusion when he saw '@jacefightwood followed you!' Who the fu- the football player? That Jace? He opened Twitter to find that yes, that Jace but he kinda got distracted by his avi. Posing with his siblings, dressed in his muddy, rain soaked football uniform, hair falling into his face, all with stern faces and clasped arms. The way that posture made his forearms bulge- no. Simon couldn't think like that, setting himself up for failure would always be his hubris. That, and the cajun poutine from Live Bait up in Bushwick. 

He finally pulled himself away from the photo to actually look at Jace's account, which is mostly tweets about football or his siblings, an occasional vine here or there but no clues to why he would be interested in following Simon. Maybe he heard about the band? But then again, no one has ever heard of their band so that's just a dead end. 

Simon closed the app more confused than ever, just to see he had two other notifications. He opened both Snapchat and Instagram only to see 'jacefightwood started following you.' This is getting fucking ridiculous, why the fuck would the quarterback follow him on all his accounts? His first reaction was to message him, but felt a lot of apprehension. He might've followed you on everything but that doesn't mean he wants to talk to you. Maybe by some chance he wants to talk to you, and maybe he just finds you an entertaining mess. He clicked follow with dread in his stomach and tossed his phone on the table. Enough of that, he had an old man to run away from. 

* * *

In Physics the next day, Jace was already at his lab table, head ducked to look at yesterday's notes. As Simon walked to his table next to Jace, he watched him, scanning his profile before sitting down and getting his own notes out. They were continuing yesterday's lab today and Simon and his lab partner were stuck on one particular step... 

Simon thought he felt someone staring at him, so he flicked his eyes up to look at Jace- who wasn't looking back. You're imagining things, Lewis, your hubris is showing. Shaking his head, he greeted his partner with a quiet 'hello' and quickly dived into what he thought might be the solution to their problem. Again he felt eyes on him but convinced that it was his nerves, he kept his focus on the notes he wrote up last night. 

Across the aisle, Jace watched Simon rattle off to his partner about the lab; the way he constantly shifted his body, and the way he would readjust his glasses every few seconds as if he couldn't hold back his insecurity. When his partner suggested a (wrong) solution, his lips would twist in the cutest, most agitated way. Before Simon suffered any longer, Jace found himself saying, "Hey, did you want any help with that?" 

Simon's eyes locked onto Jace's, "Yeah sure, I-" He tripped on his own backpack in his hurry, knocking his glasses a bit skewed. Jace hid the smile that threatened to break across his face, and Simon was suddenly standing next to him. Jace didn't anticipate how close Simon would be, so as Simon leaned over him to compare notes, Jace held himself completely still, his body hyper aware and burning up. Was the room on fire or was it just him? 

Jace slowly looked up at Simon, watched how his deep brown eyes fluttered across the pages, wondered how soft his dark eyelashes were. He loved how the morning sun danced across his light brown skin, wanted to run his fingers through his loose curls.

Gayyyy. His throat started to seize with giggles, but Simon had just closed his book and looked over at him, so he cleared his throat and smiled back at him. 

"Thanks, Jace."

"Yeah of course, Simon." 

As Simon sat down, Jace looked up for a brief second to see a little smile tugging at his lips, sending his heart beating like a bass drum, an electric energy running up and down his back, flowing down to his legs. His spine and shoulders shuddered from the euphoric tendrils of energy, eyelids fluttering and lips clamped to silence the gasp caught in his throat. 

Literally, what the fuck. You need to chill, it meant nothing, it meant nothing, it meant nothing. Jace rubbed his temple and ran his fingers through his hair. All of this is gonna get worse, so much worse. 

Jace tried to focus on his partner and their lab, but his eyes kept straying over to Simon, not that this didn't happen everyday but it felt like he couldn't look away for more than a few minutes. 

By the end of the period, Jace was positive he had done some damage with how he gritted his teeth; he received several strange looks from his partner but she didn't say anything, occasionally bringing him back down to earth to keep working on the lab. He would mutter a quick 'sorry' every time she nudged him, hoping she wasn't too mad at his lack of focus.

Jace allowed himself one last look at Simon before the bell rang. He was hunched over his notes, his bicep resting on the table and his hand supporting the side of his head. His eyebrows were scrunched together, his teeth kneading his bottom lip in concentration, reading a paragraph before flipping a few pages to read something else. 

He's still having trouble, maybe you could- no Jace, he doesn't need your help he's smart he will figure it out on his own. 

Jace slid to the edge of his seat, bracing himself for when the bell- RINGG. He shot out of his seat and left the room first, maneuvering down the crowded hallway. He saw Alec and Izzy at his locker, her with a fake pout and him with the aloof smirk of denying her the things she wanted. 

Collapsing against his locker in between them, he sighed dramatically and closed his eyes. "I'm fucked guys, more fucked than I thought I was."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading and let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments!


	3. Chapter 3

okay im working on a chapter 3 but its going slowly so bear with me, but i just noticed that not all of chapter 1 posted and i fixed it, so please go back and read the rest that i put up lmao i feel like a dipshit god, okay im so sorry i havent updated in forever! im working on it! love you!!

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for checking out my fic! i really appreciate it <3


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